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Patagonia, Chile with Toddlers

Visiting Patagonia was top on our list when planning our
trip to Chile and I’m so glad we were able go!
The snow-capped mountain ranges, waterways, and plentiful wildlife makes
Patagonia the perfect place to visit with kids!
No, there isn’t a McDonald's in town or playgrounds around and most
hotels don’t have TVs in your room.
Instead, we took “hikes”, used our imagination and pretended the
driftwood found along the side of a lake were dinosaur bones. We saw numerous wildlife including llama,
rhea, deer, horses, fox, skunk, pink flamingo and other various bird
species. The landscape is breathtaking
and we were able to cross off ice capped mountain, glacier, iceberg, valley,
forest, plain, waterfall, river and lake all on our geography vocabulary
list.

Travel to Patagonia
from Santiago

Flights: About a 3.5
hour plane ride from Santiago, it is necessary to plan at least a half day buffer
in your itinerary for travel.We were
able to find flights for $100 USD per person from Santiago to Punta
Arenas.Be prepared to not have TVs on
your plane and paying for all drinks and snacks as well as your luggage.

Rental Car: Punta
Arenas is still a four hour drive to the main tourist attraction of Patagonia,
Torres del Paine National Park.Yes, we
rented a car, which I would definitely recommend if you are traveling with
small children.Many backpackers take
busses to get into the park and hike their way around, however with small kids
having a “home base” is so nice.We used
our rental to get around to different sections of the national park that we
wanted to see and we especially appreciated having our car for necessary
bathroom “emergencies”, diaper changes, and car naps.Of course renting a car means you will need
to either bring or rent car seats.Because we spent a few days in Santiago before arriving to Patagonia, we
didn’t want to bring two big bulky car seats with us.We did, however, bring a booster seat for
Dylan, which we normally wouldn’t use at home.He is still in a regular car seat, but the booster seat is so small and
easy to carry and he does fit the weight limit so I don’t feel bad using it for
the one week we are away.We rented a
baby car seat, which I believe was an extra $12 USD per day.Be prepared to drive along a lot of gravel
roads and make sure you brush up on your tire changing skills, just in case. J

We traveled around the national park and stayed at a
different hotel every night along the way.This way we never had to back track.

Simple Patagonia:
Although not in the national park, Simple Patagonia, located in Puerto Natales,
a 2.5 hour drive from the airport, was the perfect stop for our family.Because our flight got in so late in the evening;
we didn’t even arrive at the hotel until close to midnight.The hotel was fantastic with an amazing view
of the fjord and mountain ranges.Breakfast is included and it was one of the best breakfasts we ate in
their lodge style cafeteria overlooking the beautiful landscape of Puerto
Natales.Puerto Natales is a great town
to fill up your car with gas and I would highly recommend picking up snacks for
your kids at their local grocery store before heading into Torres del Paine
because your options will be very limited when you get into the national
park.*Be prepared to pay quite a bit
extra for a crib if you need one.

Hotel Estancia El Ovejero
Patagonia: Located in the Cerro Castillo, an incredibly small town, but
conveniently located by the eastern entrance of the park. Our room and the breakfast included was
definitely a no frills experience, but the location was great and the staff was
very accommodating. It’s a good idea to
brush up on your Spanish, because many staff members do not speak English. Hotel
Estancia El Ovejero Patagonia also charges for a crib, however our room had
three twin sized beds, so we pushed two beds together for Matt and me, Dylan
slept in one twin bed and Christopher in his fold up KidCo tent.

Rio Serrano Resort +
Spa: This hotel was fantastic!
Located right near the main entrance of the park with a great view of
the Torres del Paine mountain range. Our
room was quite small, but we were given a king sized bed and pack’n’play. The hotel experience was superior and
included welcome drinks, a live band at night, a number of excursions offered (such
as horseback riding around the premises, kayaking, and trekking) a large buffet
breakfast included and a spa with one of the best pools we’ve ever visited. The staff was so friendly and helpful; the
hotel even employs adventure experts to help plan your day exploring the
national park.

Hotel Illaia: We booked Hotel Illaia because it was located in Punta
Arenas, close to the airport and we figured it would be easier to have a night
in the city before our flight the next morning. One feature we really liked about the hotel was that they had a rooftop common area that overlooked the entire city and it was so fun to hangout there and watch the sunset (which wasn't until 10pm!!)

Attractions:

One of the main draws for
backpackers is to hike the “W”, a four day hike, only assessable by foot and
I’m sure some of the most breathtaking views you will ever experience. With a car, we were limited to only road routes
but were still astounded by the various landscapes we were able to see. We spent two full days exploring the park by
car.

Here are our highlights:

Driving into the park from the eastern entrance,
we were able to get a fantastic view of the main mountain range and pull over
at numerous look out spots to take photos.

Most wildlife can be found near the eastern
entrance, so keep your eyes especially peeled for llamas, deer, and rhea.*There are boat excursions you can take to
see penguins as well, however we opted not to do this because we had just seen
wild penguins in South Africa the year before.

Blue lake was one of our favorite stops.It didn’t hurt that we had fantastic weather,
so were able to get out of the car and go exploring.We walked near the water besides tame horses
roaming the field and along the lake’s shore.The boys enjoyed throwing rocks into the water and finding “treasures”
along the way.

Fjord
lookout stops are a must.The water’s
color is so beautiful and we were able to take so many amazing family photos at
various lookouts.

These navy blue maternity pants are from PinkBlush and were perfect for travel and super comfortable in the car!

Grey Lake: This 20 minute “hike” through a
wooded area takes you to a large beach overlooking icebergs in the water! This is the perfect hike for kids, but be
prepared for crossing a bridge suspended by rope (which is very shaky) and high
winds!

Waterfall: We saw two waterfalls in Patagonia: Mirador Salto Grande and Cascada Rio Paine. Mirador Salto Grande is a short hike, about a kilometer, to reach it and Cascada Rio Paine you can drive right up to! Both were beautiful and we would definitely recommend visiting!

Cascada Rio Paine

Mirador Salto Grande

·Mountain Glaciers: We were able to see glaciers on the mountains at various stop points, however there are boat excursions you can take to see them up close.(This was also something we opted not to do because we had just visited a glacier a few months ago in Banff)

Weather:

Weather in Patagonia is
extremely unpredictable and it seems almost always windy.As we drove, one minute we would be under
blue skies and big puffy white clouds, and the next, under a grey sky with
rain.I definitely wished we had packed
warmer clothes, even hats and gloves, for the extreme weather changes and cold
wind that occurred in different areas of the park and times throughout the
day.

We only saw Chilean families
with small kids traveling around the national park and I’m not sure why more
people would not come with their kids!This experience was so enriching for our children and we really felt
that being in nature together as a family without so many distractions helped
our family grow closer together.

Chile is an amazingly beautiful country and it's smart to travel around with a rental car. The temperature range and discrepancies could be huge in the country and so it's tough for some people. @knycx.journeying

I'm Sarah from Buffalo, New York. I am a follower of God, wife, mom, "retired" 3rd grade teacher; now a spin instructor and, of course, travel nut! My husband, Matt, and I have been married 8 years. I'm pretty obsessed with him, even though he ropes me into all of his shenanigans! ;-) We began traveling when we were first married, and now we are addicted! We have 2 boys, Dylan (3 years) and Christopher (10 months) who we tote all around the world with us! So far Matt and I have traveled to 41 countries together, Dylan, 25 countries, and Christopher, 11. We average about 5 countries/trips per year. We love to travel with our kids and I love sharing with others how it is TOTALLY doable!!! In this blog, I hope to share the places we've been, how we did it, and tips for making travel easier, even with your kids!!